Vegas Wants To Be Amsterdam On Steroids

The Growth Op Reports……..With more than 800 cannabis products for sale—including more than 100 different flower strains and pre-rolls, nine dozen vaping products and 80 different concentrates—sourced from 90 percent of Nevada’s 150-plus combined producers and cultivators, Planet 13’s inventory is among the largest in the U.S.

Just five miles north of Planet 13, on tribal land near downtown Las Vegas, NuWu Cannabis Marketplace boasts a similarly behemoth retail store, where almost 3,000 customers pass through the doors of the 15,500 sq. ft. storefront or a 24-hour drive-thru each day. Owned and operated by the Las Vegas Paiute tribe, NuWu has sold a US$11,000 cannabis cigar, made the first U.S.-based advertising partnership with a professional sports franchise—the Las Vegas Lights—and, just this past November, hosted a segment for Jimmy Kimmel Live since opening in October 2017.

The Paiutes, whose 12.5-hectare plot of land a couple of kilometres from where 18 million tourists visit downtown Las Vegas each year, has also attracted cannabis-seeking VIP clients from the strip.

The two entertainment-based mega cannabis complexes in Las Vegas are just the first steps in the city’s goal to become “Amsterdam on Steroids.”

First coined by Tick Segerblom—a former Nevada senator who spearheaded legislation to develop the state’s legal cannabis industry—the process has been in the works since recreational cannabis sales launched on July 1, 2017. In a city built on hype, pizzazz and hospitality, having the world’s two largest standalone cannabis retail facilities by square footage represents “a good start,” Segerblom points out.

While Las Vegas wants to mimic Amsterdam’s style of extravagant cannabis venues and permissibility for open consumption, state officials have worked to ensure the city doesn’t turn into the wild, wild west of pot.